According to the
Bible story, Abraham was a successful trader and herdsman who left his native
city, Ur, during
a period of upheaval in the 20th or 19th centuries BC. He and his
wife Sarah went
looking for fresh pastures and a new country.

Their journey took them along an ancient trade route from the Mesopotamian valley up the
Euphrates River to Haran and then south, down to Canaan.

The
ram/goat excavated by Leonard Woolley, photograph taken at the
time
it was first discovered

The
reconstructed ram/goat

Frontal
view of reconstructed statuette

A
similar image on a cosmetic jar from Nippur

The
Bible quote from the Book of Genesis (above) echoed in the mind of Leonard Woolley when he
discovered the 'Great Death Pit'
at Ur, the city where Abraham lived before he traveled to Canaan.

In the pit he
found
a pair
of statuettes, gold and lapis lazulae, dating from about 2600-2400 BC,
showing what looked like a goat or ram caught in the branches of a golden
bush.

Woolley
thought there might be a connection between these objects and the
story
of Abraham and Isaac.

Judging
by the horns and coat of the animal in the statuette, it is more likely to have been
a goat - an animal noted for its endurance and sexual potency.

When found, the
statuette had been crushed flat
by the weight of the soil. The same thing happened to the flattened skull and jewelry of Queen Puabi;
you can see a photo of this excavaton at Ancient
Jewelry (see right).

The animal's head and legs were
covered in gold leaf, its ears were copper, its twisted
horns and the fleece on its shoulders were of lapis lazuli and its body
fleece made of shell. Its genitals are gold, suggesting they were an
important feature of the symbolism behind this cult object.

The tree is covered in
gold leaf, with golden flowers. A tube rising from the goat's shoulders suggests it
was used to support something, perhaps a bowl.

The 'ram' or goat is shown
reaching up to nibble at the branches of a shrub or bush - a common
sight in the ancient Near East.

The Beni
Hasan Mural, Egypt

Segments
of the Beni-Hasan mural

Detailed drawing of
part of the Beni Hasan mural

This is
a mural from Beni Hasan in Egypt, dated at circa 1890BC. It is
located on the north wall of a tomb dedicated to the Egyptian Pharaoh
Sesosotis II, but belonged to the local governor of the time,
Khnum-Hotep.

One of the
murals, on the north wall of the main chamber, shows
a band of nomadic merchants who have traveled from Syria-Canaan to
Egypt.

Many
commentators have tried to read the journey of Joseph's brothers into
this mural, but this is probably just wishful thinking. There is no
indication that the merchants intend to settle in Egypt, or stay
there.

The
mural is situated in a large hall whose walls are covered with ancient
pictures. These images depict many different aspects of life in ancient
Egypt, and the mural probably depicts a band of foreign traders who
passed frequently through the area.The Egyptians
referred to these people as 'Asiatics'.

The ancient
Egyptian caption that was written above the scene described
'the arrival, bringing a gift of stibium (a mineral used as a cosmetic for
painting the eyes) of thirty-seven Asiatics'. The caption in front of the leader of the
'Asiatics' identifies them as being from a foreign country called
'Ibsha'.

The painting
at Beni Hasan is valuable because it gives
us an idea of
how Abraham's clan would have dressed and looked. Note the women's headbands,
the the style of clothing of both sexes, the short beards of the men,
their animals, weapons and tools.

The Anu Ziggurat at Uruk, now reduced by time
and erosion to a formless mound. The
stairway ramp for the ziggurat is at right center. For more on this, see
Ziggurats.

Anu was the god/power that ruled the sky - a Mesopotamian deity worshipped at the time
that Abraham lived in Ur.

The outer shell of the
ziggurat at Ur has been reconstructed (see below), giving an idea of how it would
have looked when Abraham was alive. The plane is from a nearby American air base.

The
reconstructed ziggurat at Ur

As far as we know,
ziggurats were meant to connect the earth and the cosmos beyond it, a
sort of platform from which the gods could be contacted. Each ziggurat was topped by
a shrine, used only be priests (and priestesses) who were servants of
the god to whom the ziggurat was dedicated.

Around the ziggurate was a
temple complex probably, as in Egypt, including temples, sacred colleges
and schools, storage rooms, a large open courtyard, and living quarters
for the servants of the god.

Why have ziggurats?
Archaeologists suggest that worship of particular gods
originated in the mountains to the north of Sumeria. When people settled
in the flat plains around the Tigris and Euphrates, they simulated
mountain worship centers by building earth mounds duplicated the hills
and mountains they had come from.

Aerial view of a
ziggurat, showing remains of carefully planned buildings
surrounding the main area

They then carried this
practice with them as they spread throughout the Middle East - notably
in ancient Canaan/Israel. This was the origin of the 'high places'
against which the priests of Jahweh railed so vehemently.

Impression
from a clay
seal showing the god Enki, from whom rivers of water flow

Abraham's clan
came from a society (ancient Mesopotamia) with a rigid social structure
and sophisticated religious mythology. But by the time that he left, this culture was in decline. Nevertheless, Abraham would certainly
have been aware of the sacred stories of the Mesopotamians.

This seal
shows the water god Enki, identified by the streams of water that gush
from his upper body. It would once have been the prized possession
of a high official or a monarch.

Abraham, as leader of his
tribal group, would have had his own seal, and probably also a carved
wooden staff with figures and signs representing tribal history.

His great-grandson Judah
bartered his own seal and staff as a pledge of payment for the services
of a prostitute, unaware that the prostitute was his daughter-in-law Tamar. See the story in Genesis 38, and Tamar,
Bible Woman.

Given the importance of
his
seal and staff, this was an extraordinary gesture on Judah's part.